After the battle for Guam, William J. Middlebrooks and the 3rd Division remained on Guam until they were called up for their next campaign on the volcanic island of Iwo Jima. Scoop was due to return to the states for a well-earned furlough, but while it was pending he received a promotion to Corporal as a combat correspondent. This was the coveted promotion he wanted so badly! To fight and report was his dream. His division arrived by transport offshore of Iwo Jima, never realizing what horrors lay ahead of them. The Japanese defensive positions were heavily fortified, which included an extensive network of bunkers, hidden artillery positions, and eleven miles of underground tunnels.
The initial landing occurred on February 19, 1945 with Scoop's 21st Regiment committed to the battle the next day. The casualties began to mount and more and more troops were sent in to stem the tide of battle. After landing, Scoop was able to write a few stories under his byline as he and his comrades moved forward. But as the fighting intensified, the front line troops began to run out of ammunition. Bill and a combat photographer volunteered to run the gauntlet as they wrapped machine gun belts and bandoleers around their shoulders. They took off between enemy airfields #1 and #2 leaping like a couple of frightened mountain goats. They dodged shell holes and dead Marines as they bogged down in the black volcanic sand. They delivered the ammo and then started back for more as they zig-zagged over the broken terrain. Halfway back, there was a frightening whine and Scoop fell from a Japanese sniper round. His comrade dropped at the same time and turned to find Scoop badly hurt.
He called for help and Marines came with a stretcher to carry him back to an aid station. Within minutes, Corporal William J. Middlebrooks of the Pensacola News Journal was dead. His luck had run out on February 24, 1945! In his typewriter, they found a neatly typed paper with the heading “By Corporal William J. Middlebrooks of Marianna, Florida – Iwo Jima (Delayed)” It was the start of a story the young Marine never finished. By coincidence, a photo of Middlebrooks wearing a Purple Heart arrived at the Pensacola News Journal at almost the same time as the news of his death. This time, his mother Edith received her third letter from the War Department and this time her son was not coming home!
He was survived by his mother and one brother, Captain John Middlebrooks in the US Army serving in Germany. A PNJ article of 11-4-1948 announced that Scoop's body was arriving in Pensacola for burial at Barrancas Cemetery. The war hero was buried with full military honors he so richly deserved!
Pensacola News Journal 3-27-1945
Pensacola News Journal 4-2-1945
Buried Barrancas National Cemetery 1948
USMC Corporal William J.
Middlebrooks, 1922-1945